


Only Time Can Tell

by AliceMarie



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Corruption, Darkscape, M/M, Magic, Multi, mindscape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMarie/pseuds/AliceMarie
Summary: This day happens every year. Virgil knew this, yet he still dreaded this day every time it came around. In order to keep Corruption in check Virgil, Remus, and Deceit have to go back to the Darkscape manor in order make sure that the seal was unbroken. He kept this a secret because he knew how dangerous this task was, he had to protect Thomas. This year shouldn't have been any different, boy how wrong he was.After corruption causes the sandersides to be down one, its a race against the clock to solve one problem and prevent another, even worse problem from occurring.(This can kind of be seen as a parallel universe to my other story 'We Won't Let This Be the End' as many of the elements between the two stories will be similar, just completely different story lines!)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, CALM-Relationship, LAMP-Relationship, LAMP/CALM, Polyamsanders
Comments: 15
Kudos: 64





	1. Prologue: So It Begins

It started as any other day. Virgil woke with a groan as the rising sun shone through the window. Silently cursing about the light, he turned over and pulled the scarlet covers over his head and curled back into the warmth of the chest next to him in hopes of going back to sleep. He was about to drift back off sleep when in the midst of his sleepy thoughts, they wandered to what day it was. _Shit..._ _Why does it have to be today?_

Virgil knew there was no going back to sleep now, even if he wanted to. Slowly, so as not to wake his partner, Virgil sat up and looked around the room. Apparently the night before he had fallen asleep in Roman’s room.

Roman’s room was as grand as it ever was. It was set up in two layers, both being separated by two steps. On the bottom layer sat a lounging area containing extravagant (yet very comfortable) couches, a coffee table, a television, and bookcases filled with fairytales and movies. Moving to the second layer, on one wall there was Princey’s desk where he would spend many late nights working on new ideas for Thomas. 

Next to the desk was his walk in closet that contained his royal attire as well as the entrance to his bathroom. On the other wall was a dresser with yet another tv hanging over it. Next to the dresser was Roman’s personal portal to the Daydream territory, it was covered by a curtain that kept it from plain view. In the center of the second layer was Roman’s grandiose bed. White, red, and gold was the color scheme of the room much like the owner of the room.

Virgil guessed that last night he had fallen asleep in Princey’s room after his boyfriend convinced him and their other partners into yet another late night Disney marathon. Not that any of them argued with him much, any time they could get with each other, they would take. On the tv was the muted title screen for  _ Aladdin _ . 

Virgil looked around the room and noticed that his other two partners weren’t in the room with them.  _ That’s odd. I could’ve sworn that they were in here last night with us watching movies… Oh well, just makes getting out of the mind palace easier since I don’t have to worry about waking all three of them up. I just need to worry about not waking Roman up which is easy because he’s a heavy sleeper. _

Virgil finally decided that it was time to leave. He spared a glance at his boyfriend who he couldn’t help but admire. Roman was asleep on his side, with his arm draped over Virgil’s hips. It must have been hot in the room last night because Roman was sleeping shirtless (not that Virgil minded at all). His brown hair was slightly curled from how he had been sleeping and in the early, morning sun looked to have bits of gold in it.  _ How can he still look so gorgeous while he’s sleeping?  _

Virgil couldn’t help the small smile that appeared as he gently pushed Roman’s hair out of his face, placing a light kiss on his forehead as he slowly got up out of bed. Tiptoeing, he made his way to the door and stopped. Virgil knew he could just go back to bed, curl back up next to Roman, and forget about this awful day, but he knew he had a responsibility to take care of. Virgil frowned as he stepped out of the room into the hallway and quietly shut the door. 

Virgil quietly made his way through the second floor of the palace. He stopped outside of Patton’s room and placed his ear to the door. He heard a soft snoring coming from the other side. Carefully he opened the door and peered inside. Looking through the cluttered room, his eyes focused on the bed to see two figures sleeping peacefully. Logan and Patton were curled up together in Patton’s bed. 

Virgil smiled affectionately at his two other partners.  _ Must have moved rooms after Roman and I fell asleep during the movie. Logan could never sleep with noise in the room. Patton must have convinced him to come back here and snuggle after he muted the movie.  _ Virgil silently chuckled as he softly shut the door again.

Now that all three of his boyfriends were accounted for, he trudged his way back to his room. He made sure that he made as little noise as possible. It was much earlier than any of the other sides would normally wake up which is what he needed. He didn’t want to have to come up with an excuse as to why he was up or why he was leaving so early.

He knew what would happen if any one of the three other sides were to catch him. Roman and Patton would make a fuss and Logan would push for information. There would be no way for him to get out of the mind palace without his secret spilling. Virgil knew he wouldn’t tell them without a fight though. He needed to protect them. He needed to protect Thomas. 

The weight of the day started to make its presence known. Every year this day happened and every year he dreaded it, but this year was different. So much had happened since the last time this day had taken place. He had calmed down drastically to where his panic attacks happened once in a blue moon. Thomas was doing good as well, they were working together now (along with the other sides) to keep him moving forward. Virgil still had his days and moments though where he had to be that nagging or halting voice. It WAS his job afterall to keep Thomas safe and on his toes.

Along with Thomas, the relationships that Virgil had with the rest of the sides had gotten  _ a lot  _ better as well. Logan and Virgil had started spending a lot of time together discussing theories. They had gotten a much better understanding for one another and looked for compromise in many situations. 

The relationship between him and Patton was still as strong as ever. Patton being “dad” and Virgil being Patton’s “dark strange son” (Even though they were in a relationship). They both also got a good laugh when bothering the other two sides with dad jokes. He could alway count on Patton for one of his signature hugs and a fresh plate of cookies when he was having a bad day.

Then there was Roman. He couldn’t forget Roman now could he. For many years, Virgil and Roman had not gotten along. Constant bickering, arguing, and confrontation kept them at odds. After time, the two had started getting along and had come to an understanding of each other (much like he and Logan had). 

After the two started to get along they both discovered that they had a mutual attraction to each other. Actually, all four of them had a mutual attraction for each other. The others had been completely willing to give a relationship a try but Virgil, much like his title, had been extremely anxious about moving further. With much coaxing and support from the other sides, he finally agreed. He hasn’t once regretted his decision.

Finally making it back to his room, Virgil entered and started preparing himself, both mentally and physically, for the long day ahead. He got dressed in his usual attire and stared at his reflection in his mirror. He quickly made sure that his eye shadow looked fine and that his hair wasn’t a complete disaster. He knew he shouldn’t concern himself with looks today but he needed to at least be presentable for when he returned so none of the others would get suspicious.

Virgil walked to his door and stopped and groaned, leaning his head against the dark wood.  _ Just get it over with Virgil.  _ He thought to himself.  _ The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get this over with and the sooner we can return.  _ He begrudgingly opened his bedroom door and slipped out of his room. Silently, he made his way through the mind palace and out the front door. 

Taking a deep breath he walked off the porch and landed on the path. He turned around to take one last look at the palace, then he turned back and followed the road forward.  _ It’s going to be alright. You do this every year and nothing will be different. You can’t start panicking now. _

Walking down the path Virgil came to a fork in the road… well it was only a fork if you knew where to look. The normal path continued on into the Imagination, Knowledge, and Daydream territories, all the places of Thomas’ creations. Virgil knew that another path existed at this very point. He knew if you looked closely, one would find it. This path led to the scariest part of Thomas’ mind, the Darkscape. This path only appeared if you stepped onto it at the correct location (A cracked rock on the side of the road), which Virgil did. 

Suddenly, the fields and sunshine vanished. Virgil was surrounded by a dark forest and cloudy overcast. He was glad he had his hoodie on because the warmth of the sun was gone, replaced with a cold wind that howled through the trees. Looking forward at the broken and forgotten path Virgil knew it was now or never. Not even sparing a glimpse back he started down the trail just to get this day over with.


	2. Through the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter up!
> 
> Enjoy!

With the overcast sky above him, Virgil started making his way towards his destination. The forest surrounding Virgil was almost like that of a horror film. Dark, twisted trees lined the cracked stone path as far as the eye could see (which wasn’t very far due to the heavy fog that was a permanent characteristic of the forest). Dead leaves, moss covered stones, and twigs made their home on the damp forest floor.

Every step Virgil made caused a crack or a rustle, the sound echoing with the wind. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was being followed. Virgil knew better though, he was too close to the exit out to the positive mindset for anything too terrifying to appear. He would have to go farther into the Darkscape and closer to the territories of Nightmares and Delusions for the real frightening creatures to make their appearances.

As he was walking he started noticing his hands, they were fidgeting quite a bit with the frayed sleeves of his hoodie. A nervous habit he had never seemed to outgrow. The farther he went, the darker the forest became, and the more Virgil missed being at home in the mind palace. He was having a hard time keeping his thoughts positive because that's what the Darkscape does, it brings out the worst in people. Virgil shook his head and kept moving forward.

Eventually, Virgil came to an old, rickety bridge. The bridge hung over a deep chasm, one that you couldn’t see the bottom of. Every instinct inside Virgil was screaming for him to turn back, to not go over that bridge. He ignored those voices (however hard it was) and “confidently” made his way across the bridge.

Once Virgil crossed the bridge, he had to stop and catch his stalled breath. Virgil told himself that he was ready. He told himself that he would be able to handle this. How wrong he was.  _ Shit…  _ Virgil thought as he stared straight ahead at the locked, iron gate leading up to the Darkscape Manor. 

The manor was as terrifying as he remembered. Surrounded by the old, rusted iron gate, the manor could scare almost anyone. The manor looked like a small, Victorian house. The walls were crumbling and covered in moss and vines. It had four towers with cracked stain-glass windows (Virgil could’ve even sworn he saw something move in one of them). The wood of the porch was rotten to the point where it looked as though you couldn’t stand on it.

It might of looked small on the outside, but one should know to never judge something based on outward appearances. The inside of the manor was filled with winding and twisting hallways. There were countless rooms throughout the many floors. Many of the rooms were open for beings to go into, while others were locked (and for good reasons). The hallways dripped a black substance and dark shadows and figments roamed the halls. 

Virgil stood outside the gate, trying to control both his breathing and his shaking. Looking down at his phone (how else would everyone stay in contact), Virgil saw the time and groaned.  _ Where the hell are they?! They were supposed to be here by now so we could get this over with! _

When Virgil had said “they” he meant the  _ ever so wonderful  _ Deceit and Duke. Though he had every intent on keeping the “light sides” out of this mess, he on the other hand had no issues involving the “dark sides” in this. They had been involved from the very beginning so there really was no point. 

Virgil may refer to them by that old system of “light” vs “dark” sides, but in all honesty that system was bullshit. Both Deceit and the Duke had kind of proven their worth over the last couple years, even making themselves useful in Thomas’ everyday life (to an extent). It wasn’t saying much but through everything, the three “dark” sides had (almost) thrown everything behind them.

Nowadays you could find Remus adventuring with Roman in Daydream or babbling about something to Patton, who in turn would give him some much needed attention. It seemed to not only do Remus some good to rekindle the relationship he had with his brother, but it seemed to help Roman as well. Roman’s creative spark seemed to burn brighter now that he had someone to delve into the “creativity” part of the process with.

Deceit spent quite a bit of time with Logan in the archives of the Knowledge territory. He may claim that he’s preparing for any scenario that a good lie might come in, but everyone is pretty sure he goes to argue with Logan about any fact or piece of knowledge he could get his yellow, gloved hands on. Along with Logan, Deceit had started to team up with Patton to create the “dynamic dad duo”, nobody could get away with anything with a stern look from both of them at the same time.

Overall, the sides had decided to work together (all six of them) to help keep Thomas together.

This wasn’t one of those times though. Thomas, Roman, Logan, and Patton had no idea what was going on and if Virgil had it his way, it would stay that way. Virgil picked at a stray string hanging from his sleeve,  _ There is no way that I am going in there alone, I guess I’m just going to have to wait for them to show up… but if they make me wait too much longer I’m going to be a much worse problem than the thing that we have to face in there.  _


	3. Let's Get On With It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter!
> 
> For some context about this story, I started this 5-6 months ago when I started my other story. The difference between this one and that one is that I almost abandoned this one. I had no plan for it when I initially wrote the first 3 chapters. Now I have a plan and this story is back on track! This chapter was written back in October so I just edited it a little for post. Next chapter will be the first new chapter that story will be getting.
> 
> Thanks for the support for this story! Enjoy!
> 
> -Alicemarie

Roman woke up to an empty bed. Though it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for him to wake up without one of his partners in bed with him (he generally slept in while the others woke up early), this morning felt a little different. Shaking the feeling off, Roman figured that they were probably downstairs eating breakfast like they normally would be.

Roman took a shower and got dressed in his normal attire. Making sure that he looked as good as ever (because a prince has gotta slay) he gave a quick nod, grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and headed downstairs to join the others. Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Roman turned towards the dining room and kitchen and froze.

Logan was sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee and reading the newspaper. Patton looked like he had just finished some dishes as he walked into the dining room drying his hands on a towel. “Good Morning Ro! How’d you sleep? Not very often you get up before Virgil.” Patton chirped, giving Roman an affectionate smile. Roman gave a confused look, “You mean Virgil isn’t already down here?”.

Logan’s gaze moved from his paper as both he and Patton looked at Roman. “Do you mean that he was not with you this morning?” Logan questioned. It was true that it was an odd occurrence for Roman to come downstairs before Virgil, usually it would be Virgil first or they would both come down together, but it did happen where Roman would come down first.

Roman turned back towards the stairs, “Virgil? Love? Are you up there?” he yelled. There wasn’t any reply. “It’s too early for him to have gone out.” Roman worriedly stated. Giving a quick glance back at his other two partners, Roman made his way back upstairs. Walking quickly down to the very end of the hallway to where Virgil’s room was, he got to his door and gave a quick knock. He waited a couple seconds and after getting no response, knocked again. 

Once again there was no response. That feeling from earlier returned and it started to make his stomach churn. Roman reached down and grabbed the doorknob and turned it, he gave a small gasp as the door surprisingly opened. Though the little voice in his head told him that Virgil wasn’t there, he entered the room anyways.

Virgil’s room wasn’t as big as Roman’s room was. It was a single layer. The walls were purple and the floor was dark brown wood. On one of the walls was the entrance to Virgil’s bathroom as well as the wardrobe and vanity. On the wall across from the bathroom, there was a tv stand along with two small bookshelves. His bed sat along the last wall, it was probably the most elegant thing in the room. It was a dark wood four-post bed, the bedding on it was a mix of blacks and purples. Hanging along the walls were strings of fairy lights giving off a soft glow that spread through the room.

Entering, Roman turned on the lights and gave a quick glance around the room, Virgil obviously was not here. His gaze moved to the vanity as a soft smile made its way onto his face. Walking towards it, Roman could see a slew of pictures hanging around the mirror. The different pictures were of Thomas and the sides. They ranged from birthdays, to dates, to just random photos that Patton would take whenever he could. 

Turning his eyes away from the memories, Roman walked towards the bathroom figuring he might as well check. He wasn’t there either. Audibly sighing, Roman left Virgil’s room and headed back downstairs to see the other two waiting for him. “He isn’t here”, Roman’s shoulders sagged as he told both Patton and Logan his ‘discovery’.

“Well if he isn’t here, then he must have left earlier this morning before any of us had gotten up.” Logan stated, looking between Patton and Roman. “Would there have been a reason for Virgil to have gone out at such an hour?”

“Not that I know of.” Roman replied, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think back on the last couple days trying to think if Virgil had mentioned anything. “Have you tried messaging him? I assume he’d have his phone on him if he went out.” Patton gave Roman a questioning look.

Mentally, Roman face palmed. How had he not thought of that before. He quickly grabbed his phone from his back pocket and opened up his messages.

**Sir Sings-A-Lot to Emo Nightmare: Hey where are you?**

Roman put his phone back into his pocket and looked up at the others. “Now all we can do is wait for his reply.

_____________________________________

Virgil felt as if he had been pacing forever. He paused his walking to glance down at his phone for the millionth time, unlike the times before he actually had a message, though it was from Roman rather than one of the two he was waiting on.

**Sir Sings-A-Lot to Emo Nightmare: Hey where are you?**

Virgil sighed, he didn’t know how he was supposed to reply, thankfully he was saved the trouble. As he was looking down at his phone screen, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small yellow snake making its way towards him. It got closer to Virgil’s ankle and just as it looked like it was about to go for a bite Virgil lifted his foot and stepped down onto it, hard.

The snake dissipated and from his left Virgil heard a very familiar chuckle. Forgetting that he was supposed to answer his boyfriend, Virgil looked up and saw both Deceit and the Duke walking towards him. Letting out a growl, Virgil glared at the two sides “You guys are late.” 

“My apologies Virgil, we totally  _ meant  _ to run late on this  _ not  _ important day. Someone, felt the need to  _ wake up on time. _ ”, Deceit glared at Remus who was scratching the back of his head. Remus was about to start babbling out an excuse when Virgil raised his hand, “Save the excuses Remus, now is not the time. I just want to go in there and get this over with.”

Not receiving any arguments from either of them, Virgil walked towards the rusted iron gate. Along one of the sides were a series of old symbols carved into it. Virgil swiped his hand across them, they glowed purple. All of a sudden a large creaking sound echoed through the air as the iron gates slowly made their way open again after a whole year.

Looking between Deceit and Remus, Virgil sighed “Let’s do this.” as he started making his way into the manor courtyard. Deceit followed with Remus shortly behind him. As the three sides had gotten into the courtyard they heard the creaking of the gates as they closed again (to make sure no unwanted being got out).

Virgil, Deceit, and Remus knew it was now or never. Heading up the rotting steps they opened the door to the manor and stepped inside.


	4. Crap...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for this chapter

Walking through the manor was as terrifying as Virgil remembered. After they had entered through the front doors, it felt as if it had only gone downhill from there. The aura of the manor seemed different than the last time they had been here. Everything just felt… still. The wallpaper seemed to blend together as they walked through the halls. The usual oozing substance was old and caked, it looked like it hadn’t dripped in months. The paintings held the same dark image of a corrupted field.

Virgil shivered as he led the way with Deceit and Remus following shortly behind him. One of the things that he really didn’t miss about the manor was how much it affected him. Virgil felt his anxiety rising nearly tenfold. He was shaking for no reason and was having some difficulties breathing. He wished one of his boyfriends was there to comfort him like they always did but at the same time he didn’t.

To his left he could see Deceit clenching his lips into a thin line. He was twirling a small snake between the fingers of one of his gloved hands while his other hand was clenching tight to the crease of his elbow. Remus was fiddling with the ruffles on his coat mumbling incoherent nonsense as they walked, his eyes wide and racing around the hallways.

There was no point in talking, it was dangerous for them to be here. The traitors. The sides who turned on their “purpose” and decided to be  _ good _ . They were some of the strongest free roaming sides to exist in the Darkscape before escaping to the Mindscape, now they were the biggest targets. Thankfully, most of the larger threats were locked away on the upper floor of the manor. The largest threat lay locked away in the basement below… Which was exactly where they were going.

Virgil felt his breath hitch and his feet halt when his thoughts traveled to what they were about to do. 

_ Why can’t I move? _

__ Virgil could see the black, marble room. The walls blended together so you couldn’t tell where the floor, walls, and ceiling were. The dim, light illuminating only a small part of the room.

_ Why is it so hard to breathe? _

The emptiness of the room was suffocating. All feeling in the room was sucked out, only leaving a void. Emotions drained away.

_ Why am I here? _

On the floor of the room was a faint outline of a seven, pointed star. Old markings were carved into the floor, extending from each of the points towards the center of the star. Three of the rows of markings pulsed with a faint colored glow (yellow, green, and purple). 

_ I’m scared. _

At the center of the star, was a large cage. The cage was sealed tight with the same glowing markings that were carved on the floor. It rattled and shook from the rage of the being contained within. A blood curdling shriek filled the room as the thing slammed its oozing form, side to side, on the cage walls. Cracks started to appear on the bars of the cage and some of the seals started to break. Dark sludge started to leak out onto the ground.

_ Help… _

“..gil….Bre… Vir… Virgil!” 

Virgil screamed as he felt hands restraining him. His eyes were screwed shut as he struggled against the hands holding him down. He felt the tears streaming down his face as he yelled out again. His throat burned and all he could hear were his thoughts telling him that there was danger.

“Breathe... four seconds… your.. ath for sev.. seco… Now breathe.. for eight seconds…” 

Virgil started to hear a voice beyond his screaming thoughts. It was repeating a phrase, a familiar phrase, telling him to… Breathe? Virgil gasped for air and tried to focus on the voice talking to him. As he calmed down, he felt the hands holding his arms loosen and eventually let go. How long he was out of it, he couldn’t tell, but eventually he was able to open his eyes.

His sight was blurry, due to the tears, but after a few blinks he was able to finally see where he was. He was sitting in the middle of the manor hallway. Remus sat next to him with a terrified look on his face. His hair was a mess, clothes were disheveled, and his eyes held their green glow.  _ Was he using his powers? _

In front of him sat Deceit, he looked as bad as Remus. There were some tears in his clothes and his gloves were missing. Deceit’s eyes glowed yellow as his bare hands were placed firmly on the ground. Gold chains stretched from the tips of his fingers outward, the chains were wrapped around various raging shadow creatures that had formed in the hall. “Oh, god…”

Virgil hiccuped and felt his body shake. He looked down at his hand and then slowly pulled down his sleeves, along his arms were the telltale cracks of his powers. The cracks pulsed a purple energy that radiated out into the purple aura meaning he was using his abilities. 

“Virgil, breathe…” 

Virgil pulled his sleeves down over his hands and listened to Deceit guide him through his breathing exercises. Slowly he watched the creatures dissolve away. As his powers calmed down, both Remus and Deceit’s powers calmed down as well. “Are you  _ not  _ feeling any better.”

Virgil shook his head and curled in on himself, resting his head on his knees.  _ What happened? It felt so real? _

“Virgil,  _ don’t  _ look at me.” Deceit held a stern tone as he replaced his gloves over his hands and sat down in front of him again. “What  _ didn’t  _ happen? One second you  _ weren’t  _ walking through the hallways. Next thing we know you  _ aren’t  _ panicking and your powers  _ didn’t  _ get out of control. You  _ didn’t  _ scare us…”

Virgil felt his heart sink. He lost control of his powers. He hasn’t done that in years. “Something is wrong.” It was the truth. He felt it the minute they walked into the manor and based on their grim expressions, they felt it too. “Something is… Something is different this time than any other time we have done this.”

“What do you think it is? What are we supposed to do?” 

Virgil turned his head to look at Remus before looking down at his now covered hands. Shaking his head, he took another stuttered breath, “We continue with our mission. It might just be that we are all so used to peace that we are just more on edge than usual.” He said what he wanted to believe. He wanted this to be just him being on edge. He wanted there to be no real threat. He wanted to get this over with and then go  _ home _ . 

“Virgil?” Deceit looked at him worriedly. He wasn’t stupid. His concern showed in his eyes and it made Virgil’s stomach churn. Remus was rocking back and forth in his spot. Shaking his head, once again, Virgil stood (a little wobbly) and shakily dusted off his pants. He finally looked at the damage done to the section of the hallway they were in. 

Black dust lay scattered on the ground and there were holes melted into some of the walls. Flecks of golden scales could be seen faintly shimmering among the debris. Virgil knew Deceit and Remus had every right to be concerned about going forward. Something had happened that caused Virgil to lose control. They both probably had injuries that they were hiding in order to not upset him further. Virgil furrowed his eyebrows as he watched both of them stand to match him.

“I appreciate your concern, Deceit, but if we don’t continue on and do what we originally came here to do… Things will be a lot worse off than they already are.” 

They continued on walking shortly after. Virgil chose to focus on his breathing (refusing to allow his thoughts to wander again). Deceit walked slightly behind Virgil to keep an eye on him. He had missed some of the warning signs (he had asked Logan about them) the first time today and he wouldn’t allow himself to miss them again. Remus had moved to walk closer to Deceit.

They walked through the hallway in silence again. They passed many different doors along their way. They passed a grey door with crying behind it, the archway into the Darkchives, an old door with vines growing on it, and so many more. Virgil wondered what could be behind some of them. He didn’t get to wonder long before they finally got to their destination.

The manor hallways may feel like one endlessly long hallway, unknowingly looping and curving to direct wandering beings wherever it deemed fit. But, the hallway did eventually end. The end of the hallway held a steel door. Two black pillars resided next to the door, all three pieces held the old markings. 

The three looked at each other and moved to take their places. Deceit and Remus moved to stand near the pillars and Virgil moved to the door. Summoning their power, Deceit and Remus simultaneously swiped their hands across the markings on the pillars which caused them to start to glow. Once that was finished, Virgil placed his hand on the steel door and watched as the glowing markings began to appear as well. Slowly, the steel door slid up to reveal the staircase leading them down into the basement.

They took the staircase down into the depths of the manor, each step they took echoed around them like thunder during a storm. They reach the bottom of the stairs and walked down the short hallway to the set of large steel doors, the last barrier between them and the  _ thing  _ they came to deal with.

Deceit and Remus stayed back a couple steps and stared worriedly at the doors as Virgil walked towards them. Virgil took staggered steps to the doors and placed both his hands on the freezing metal. Virgil’s eyes glowed purple as he summoned his power, electricity sparked from his hands as the swirling symbols appeared around them. A  _ click  _ resounded through the hall and Virgil knew it was time.

Deceit and Remus stepped forward as Virgil opened the doors. The three sides stepped through them and walked into the terrifying room. Virgil could feel his heart rate speed up as he stared at the scene before him. Black marble walls surrounded him and a partially glowing star laid under his feet, a large roar caused his eyes to snap up towards the one thing that he was avoiding looking at, Virgil heard himself whimper.

The cage was full of cracks, black smoke filled the air as dark sludge covered the ground. Behind him, he heard a large gulp come from Remus and a low hiss from Deceit.  _ Something is wrong… Corruption’s cage shouldn’t look like that. The seals… they’re almost gone.  _ Virgil shivered, it was the first time he had let himself think about what they were here to do. They were here to reinforce the seals holding corruption in check, they have never once had to deal with anything like this before.

_ What is going on?  _ Virgil stood in place while Deceit and Remus moved to stand next to him. They both looked as unnerved about the situation as he was. They hadn’t talked much this entire mission, but they didn’t need to. With Deceit’s grimace and Remus’ wild eyes, Virgil could tell neither of them were going to make the first move, so he did.

Virgil raised his shaky hand to tell the two of them to stay put, he would move closer to gauge the safest way to fix the seals. Slowly, he started to make his way towards the broken cage, carefully stepping over puddles of ooze on the ground. As he got closer he felt a slight tremor from beneath him. Was the sludge… moving? Following the sludge with his eyes, he turned around and saw it forming into a huge monster near where the two others were standing. Virgil’s eyes went wide and he barely had time to yell “MOVE!” before the monster lunged towards them.

Deceit and Remus jumped out of the way as the sludge monster crashed down with a horrifying shriek in a wave of ooze and muck. Virgil ran forward and just as the creature started to reform, he charged up and shot an electric current towards it causing it to burst. Virgil watched the sludge quickly move so it was behind him and manifest into another, larger creature. “We need to get out of here! Get to the doors, I’ll hold it off!”

Remus and Deceit looked uncertain but they could tell by the look on Virgil’s face, he was not joking around. The two bolted towards the doors and Virgil turned to face his temporary opponent. Virgil waved his hand and used his surge ability to try and disrupt the combining ooze. From behind him he hears Remus call for him, so with one last blast of energy, he turns around and races towards the exit.

Virgil runs as fast as he can towards the doors, Deceit and Remus standing at the ready to shut them the second he’s through. Virgil runs through the doorway and turns as Deceit and Remus start to shut the steel doors, his blood runs cold. 

The black sludge had formed into a humanoid figure that was standing there glaring at them. It raised its hands and dripping sigils appeared in the air in front of it, with a slash of its hand, a dark energy blast was directed towards them. Deceit and Remus were occupied trying to get the doors closed (something was making them extremely heavy) so Virgil stood in the line of fire. Summoning whatever energy and power he could, he used it to create a strong electrical surge of his own to hopefully counteract the other long enough for the doors to shut. Letting loose the wave, it burst out and collided with the dark being’s blast. 

The collision sent out a huge shock of energy. Deceit and Remus were, mostly, protected by the steel doors and were able to get them closed after the wave had gone past. The wave caused the creature to disintegrate and Virgil was blasted backwards colliding with the stone wall of the basement hall. 


	5. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone!
> 
> Sorry for the late/short chapter. It's been a very difficult time. Work had been hard and stressful and I've been dealing with some personal stuff. Still, I'm trying to get content out to you guys even if they are shorter chapters. 
> 
> As always, thanks for your continued support, patience, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Stay safe and healthy,  
> Alicemarie

Deceit and Remus felt the force of the collision of powers from behind the heavy steel doors. The wave of energy from the two blasts exploded out and caused both sides to stumble. Deceit saw from behind his hands (that were shielding his eyes) Virgil get knocked backwards and heard a terrifying  _ *bang* _ from his impact with the wall.

Deceit heard the horrifying howl of the sludgy form of Corruption before it exploded into a black puddle on the ground. Neither Deceit or Remus waited to see if it would reform. The minute the aftershock was over, the two struggled back onto their feet and shoved the doors shut as fast as they could. 

When Deceit and Remus finally got the door shut, Deceit worked to reset the seals holding the door closed and Remus ran over to Virgil. Taking off his gloves he placed his hands on the door and started placing every seal that came to mind. Yellow patterns flowed across the metal doors, crossing on top of each other and creating a tight net that would hold… For now. Deceit knew his seals weren’t as strong as Virgil’s, but they would have to do.

Deceit finished up the last of the seals, he replaced his gloves and then turned around and ran to help Remus with Virgil. Remus had moved Virgil away from the wall and had laid him on his back, he was currently checking him over. Deceit knelt down to Virgil and looked at him worriedly. 

Virgil was pale and unconscious. The cracks of his powers still remained on his skin though they didn’t pulse with their normal purple energy. Deceit noticed that Remus had torn a piece of cloth from his clothing and was holding it to a spot on his head, looking up at the wall Virgil went into he could see blood now stained the dark stone. 

“Deceit?” Remus looked at him for guidance. Remus was sitting across from him and trying really hard to sit still, but Deceit could tell how worried he was by how much he was fidgeting. This was definitely a difficult situation to deal with. After so many years, Remus no longer wished true injury on anyone. He may occasionally surprise attack in one of his little outbursts, but they were always superficial injuries. This wasn’t one of those times he could handle. Virgil looked terrible and his injuries looked pretty serious, going up against Corruption was not a smart idea.  _ I should’ve stayed behind with him.  _

Deceit looked back up at Remus. “We  _ don’t  _ need to get him out of here. The effects of the manor are probably making his injuries  _ better _ . Once we  _ don’t  _ get outside, we  _ won’t  _ figure out our next steps.”

Together they worked together to get Virgil situated on Remus’ back. Deceit couldn’t carry him but Remus was more than capable. Both him and Roman were quite strong. Once he was taken care of, the two sides slowly started making their way up the stairs. Deceit resealed the doors into the basement and then they continued through the hallway. Deceit walked behind Remus to make sure that Virgil didn’t fall off as well as adjust the makeshift band holding the cloth to his head.

The trip through the manor was slow as they had to be careful. Deceit removed a glove and summoned a couple golden snakes, releasing them on the ground, he sent them out to scout the hallway to make sure they didn’t encounter any unwanted beings. They couldn’t afford that right now.

“Deceit?”, Deceit looked up at Remus who had turned to look at him around Virgil. “We’re gonna have to take Virgil back to the palace, right?” Deceit nodded his head, brow furrowing trying to figure out where he was going with his thought. “If Virgil doesn’t recover… What are we gonna do about his  _ lovely  _ partners? They aren’t going to be too happy about this, are they?”

Deceit froze mid step. He had completely forgotten about Roman, Patton, and Logan (Who were  _ very  _ protective of Virgil). If Virgil’s injuries were as bad as they looked, then both him and Remus were screwed. They could either  _ lie  _ about how Virgil got his injuries or they would have to tell the truth… What a mess that would be.

_ Hello, fellow sides. As you  _ can’t  _ see, Virgil is  _ barely  _ injured. He got this way because we  _ didn’t  _ go back into the Darkscape to  _ not  _ fight against an extremely  _ good  _ being that could or could not completely destroy the Mindscape. _

They would take that well. Deceit didn’t know which of the three sides he was scared of most. Deceit hissed under his breath, “This  _ isn’t  _ going to be interesting.” He saw Remus shiver and readjust Virgil on his back. There wasn’t much else they could do. They continued down the hallway.

Eventually they made it to the large wooden door that led them outside the manor. Deceit walked forward and shoved the doors open and then the two walked through. Stepping out into the courtyard, Deceit checked over what injuries he could see. They looked a little better, but not by much. “Guess we  _ do  _ have a choice. We  _ don’t  _ need to get him home.”

With a scared look between the two, they made their way as fast as they could to the palace to face Virgil’s three very scary partners.


	6. What Happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone!
> 
> In celebration of the new Sanders Sides episode, I finally found some motivation to finish this chapter. 
> 
> It has been a hard chapter for me to write (I have spent the last four days working on it on and off) just because there are a lot of elements that were included. In particular, the parts that made it the hardest were when I had to work around Deceit and Remus' characters. I love their characters (though I'm not a particular fan of them) and it was hard for me to write them because I don't really know how to put myself into their mindsets (especially Remus), I tried though. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy and thanks for the continued support for this story!  
> -Stay safe and Healthy,  
> Alicemarie

After breakfast the three sides were waiting for Virgil to return from wherever he had disappeared to that morning. They were a little worried about him since he was usually on top of responding to one of them when they messaged him, but they decided he probably had a good reason for not answering Roman.

Currently, they were lounging around the living room. Logan sat in his armchair reading a book while Patton and Roman sat on the couch watching “Tangled”. This was the third movie they had watched this morning trying to distract themselves. Roman’s head rested in Patton’s lap and Patton was absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair. The three sides were startled when there was a sudden, urgent knocking on their front door.

The three sides looked at each other and Logan got up from his chair and walked over to answer the door, eyes still focused on the words on his page. Logan walked up to the door as the knocking continued and he opened it. Logan finished his sentence and looked up to see who was knocking, his eyes widened.

Standing before Logan, on the Mind Palace porch, was Deceit and Remus. The two sides looked really rough, battered, and beaten. Their clothes were torn and they looked like they had just finished a fight. Logan’s eyes finished looking at the state of the two and moved up to notice that Remus was carrying something, no, someone on his back. The book in his hand fell to the floor with a resounding * _ thump _ *.

“Logan? Is everything okay?” Patton called from the living room, but Logan didn’t answer.

Virgil rested unconscious on Remus’ back and looked terrible, worse than Deceit and Remus combined. Remus shifted Virgil nervously and Deceit cautiously stepped forward, jumping backwards at the sudden death glare Logan sent his way. “Look, Logan, no need to be… upset.” He stuttered out, “How about we  _ not  _ get Virgil inside first before we discuss this matter further?”

Logan was trying really hard at that moment to remain calm and collected, he stepped aside and let the three sides into the house. 

When both Deceit and and Remus walked into the Mind Palace they were greeted with Patton and Roman standing in the living room. Deceit watched as their face shifted from curiosity to horror. Patton’s eyes were wide and he looked like he wanted to cry out. Roman’s face shifted once again from horror, to anger.

“What the actual  _ fuck _ !” Roman screamed as he jumped over the back of the couch and raced forward to take Virgil off of Remus’ back and carefully moved him to the couch. Logan shoved past Remus and Deceit and followed him to the couch to start checking over Virgil’s injuries.

Remus stretched his arms and back from having to carry Virgil so long. “Thanks for taking the  _ dead weight  _ from me, dear brother” He said in his usual manner, and three sides glared at him.

Deceit hissed and elbowed him roughly in the side. He felt a little bad at the wince that Remus let out, but now was not the time for his comments.

Patton stood behind Logan and watched as he checked through all of Virgil's injuries. Roman once again moved to the other side of the couch (walking not jumping) and stood, one arm on his hip while the other rested on his katana, and glared at them. “What happened _? _ ” He managed to growl out through clenched teeth.

Deceit nervously tapped his fingers together, trying to figure out the best course of action for him to take so that he wouldn’t end up skewered by Roman’s blade. 

He watched as Logan said something to Patton, who then left the room, then stood up to look at them as well with his arms crossed over his chest. “I am quite curious about the state that you three are in as well. I can’t imagine what  _ unintelligible _ situation you put yourselves into that would cause such injuries.”

Patton returned from somewhere in the palace and handed Logan what looked to be a toolbox. Logan accepted it from him and placed it on the floor next to the couch where Virgil laid. When he opened it up, there looked to be a lot of different medical supplies. He had Patton gently help him remove Virgil’s jacket, they both winced at the bruises and cuts that littered his upper body.

Roman growled once again at the sight of Virgil, hand tightening on his katana, and turned back to where Deceit and Remus were standing. “ _ What happened _ ?!” He demanded again.

Both Deceit and Remus jumped back from his yelling. They looked to each other, Deceit could tell that Remus was trying really hard to not blurt out some unnecessary comment that would surely get that katana pulled out of its sheath. Before Deceit could get any sort of explanation out, Patton walked around the couch and stood between the three sides.

“Before we get into  _ any _ explanation, we need to check over their injuries and get them cleaned up.” Patton stated firmly. He looked between Deceit and Remus at the state the two were in.

Roman sputtered, “But…”

“No buts. Roman can you please go grab clothes for Deceit and Remus, from one of our closets upstairs, so they can change when we are done looking them over?”

Roman gave one final glare towards the two before huffing “Fine…”

Patton gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he begrudgingly stomped his way up the stairs. “Now while he’s taking a breather, let’s look over your injuries.”

Deceit raised his hands, “Patton that's really  _ necessary _ . The two of us will be fine.”

Patton shifted into ‘dad mode’ and stared Deceit down (which was kind of funny considering Patton was a few inches shorter than Deceit was). 

“ _ Janus Sanders. _ ” Patton warned through gritted teeth. “The only reason right now you two are not getting scolded is because you  _ are injured! _ Unless you would rather hear the few  _ choice  _ words that I have for you right now…  _ strip! _ ” Patton finished off his threat.

Deceit stared wide eyed at Patton for only a few moments before he followed Remus’ lead and started talking off his top layer of clothes (get your head out of the gutter, they stay in tanks and boxers). Deceit knew better than to push any farther when Patton used his real name. Patton may be the least violent out of the three ‘light’ sides, but he could get pretty scary when he wanted to be.

When the two were ready, Patton started to look over them and take care of their injuries.

__________

After the two were cleaned up, patched up, and Roman gave them new clothes, they had the floor. Logan had finished doing what he could for Virgil’s injuries and was now standing with his other partners watching them carefully. 

The looks the three sides were giving them were terrifying. Roman looked less ready to kill them (but only slightly), Logan’s face was like stone, and Patton stared at them with a look that said ‘you better have a good reason for all of this or else’.

“First off…” Deceit started, “Can we please have Roman put his katana away? I  _ would  _ like to deal with any greater injuries than we already have.”

Roman took an angry step forward towards Deceit before Logan grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The two shared a few looks and Roman huffed before removing the katana from his side and handing it to Logan, who moved it to the coffee table.

“ _ There _ .” Logan said. “Now, you better tell us the  _ truth _ about what happened this morning.”

“And  _ how  _ are we supposed to know that he’s telling us the truth?!” Roman challenged Logan. His temper really was flaring pretty badly.

“Roman…” Deceit sighed and then took the yellow glove off of his right hand and raised it up to show him (and the others) that what he was about to say was the truth, “I promise that everything I am about to say is the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Deceit took his following silence as an invitation to begin.

__________

_ For as long as the three of us can remember, we have always put the seals on Corruption’s cage. It may have been what caused use to “change” in the first place, but I honestly couldn’t tell you. It was the one thing, when the three of us were still young sides, that we could agree that we had to do. _

_ This year shouldn’t have been any different from any time before. _

_ We met up at the gates of the Darkscape Manor, first thing in the morning, like we always do.  _

__________

“You three went back to the  _ Darkscape _ ?!” Roman and Patton exclaimed.

“Yes. You didn’t think we obtained these injuries within the Mindscape, did you?” Deceit answered back

The three were startled by the bluntness of his answer. Logan’s eyebrows furrowed “Why on earth would you purposefully go back to the one place you three have said on numerous occasions, you would never go back to?”

“If you would let me continue on with my story, you would surely find out the answer to your question, would you not?”

Logan glared at him once again and Deceit took this as a sign to continue.

__________

_ Once the three of us were together, we went inside manor. We walked through the hallways and we all knew something was different. From the dried sludge on the wall to the overly heightened fear we were all feeling, this time something was just… wrong. _

__________

Deceit made the silent decision that he wouldn’t put too much mention into the fact they had powers or the fact that Virgil had lost control of his powers, to the others.

__________

_ We walked for a while and finally made it to our destination, a large iron door that sat at the one dead end in the entire manor. We opened the first barrier and headed down into the darkest depths of the manor to the second iron door. We opened that door as well and walked into the room that held Corruption’s prison… What was supposed to be his prison. _

__________

“Corruption?” Patton asked fearfully.

Deceit was about to answer him before he was unfortunately interrupted by Remus.

“Yep! It’s like... The most evil of creatures. The most destructive force that the mind can have.”

Deceit sighed at Remus’ outburst, but chose to move on with the story rather than acknowledge it.

__________

_ From the moment we walked into that room, we were in danger. Corruption was still contained in its cage, but the cage was full of cracks and the seals on it were almost completely gone. Corruption had gotten enough freedom to where it could manifest some of its power and attack us. We dodged its attacks as best we could but it was overpowering us with ease. _

_ Virgil took charge and ordered Remus and I to escape out the door of the room, we needed to regroup, he left us with no room to argue with him. We ran back to the doors and yelled for Virgil to get to the door so we could close them again. He attacked one last time and ran to the door. _

_ We saw him run through the doors and then Remus and I started to push the doors closed, but something was making them hard to push. _

_ I heard the corruption creature let out a roar and from the corner of my eye, I saw Virgil summon up his abilities and send a huge blast into the room. I didn’t see much of what was happening from behind the door, but we felt the impact of their two powers colliding. The force of the blast knocked both Remus and I off our feet, Virgil was blasted backwards into the wall behind us.  _

_ The second the aftershock was over. Remus and I rushed back to our feet and shut the doors as fast as we could. Granted we didn’t check the state of Corruption… Remus ran to Virgil and I did my best to seal the door. _

__________

“Our job was to go into the Darkscape to reseal Corruption’s cage in order to prevent it from getting released and spreading. We went woefully unprepared for the situation and unfortunately ended up with injuries, Virgil’s being the worst of all three of us.”

When Deceit was finished, he saw the looks of horror that were on their faces. He sighed and put back on his glove. He watched the mixture of emotions work their way across their faces. He knew that telling them the truth was the right thing to do. He also knew that if Virgil woke up,  _ when  _ Virgil woke up, Deceit knew he was dead for telling them.

“You thought that was a good thing to do on your own?!” Logan questioned.

“It could have been worse.” Remus butted in excitedly. “We could have run into one of the  _ figments _ or another  _ dark side _ . We could have been killed or even worse, corrupted ourselves!”

“Remus!” Deceit quickly covered Remus’ mouth with both his hands. 

“What does Remus mean about being  _ corrupted yourselves _ ?” Roman asked, terrified.

“Nothing! He meant  _ nothing _ by that.” Deceit hurriedly exclaimed. “He’s just being himself and spouting  _ nonsense _ .” Remus gave him a questioning look and all Deceit could do was slightly shake his head and hope the others didn’t question further.

Deceit was filled with silent relief when none of them chose to continue the conversation further (even though they all looked like they really wanted to).

“What do we do from here?” Patton asked worriedly.

“Well… I’d assume we’d have to wait for Virgil to wake up to figure out the next course of action.” Logan stated, somewhat solemnly. 

The others looked to him and then to where Virgil still lay unconscious on the couch. They all agreed that that would be the best course of action to take.

__________

“Also, I know this is probably the  _ best  _ time to mention this, but you know how I mentioned that we were unable to seal up Corruption?”

Logan, Patton, and Roman’s eyes returned to Deceit.

“Well~...We  _ may  _ or  _ may not  _ only have five days to seal it back up before the Mindscape gets destroyed.”


	7. Day 1: The Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I've learned since I started writing it that when inspiration hits, you write. Unfortunately for me, inspiration always ends up hitting me when I'm at work and nowhere near either my notebook or my laptop and too busy to do anything about it. 
> 
> Anyway, here's the next chapter!
> 
> Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the continued patience and support for this story!  
> -Stay safe and healthy  
> Alicemarie

After deciding to wait for Virgil to wake up, as well as with the unfavorable news that they had had five days till possible doom, the fives sides decided to split for the night. Deceit and Remus stayed for a little bit longer before taking their leave to head back to their home. Logan, Roman, and Patton settled down for a long night. 

Roman, after checking that it was okay with Logan, carefully picked up Virgil and moved him upstairs to his bedroom. Logan followed him up. While Roman made sure that Virgil was all comfy on his bed, Logan set up a mattress on the floor near his bed for the three of them to rest on that night. Patton stayed downstairs to make them some dinner. He wasn’t sure any of them would be hungry after the afternoon they had, but they needed to eat.

Upon finishing dinner, he placed it on a tray along with some plates and utensils and took it upstairs for them to eat in Virgil’s room. He reached Virgil’s doorway and walked through. Logan had just finished setting up the mattress. Roman sat next to Virgil on his bed, holding his hand.

Patton walked through the room, careful when he came to the area near the mattress, and set the tray on one of the end tables near Virgil’s bed. “It isn’t much, but we need to eat something.” Both Logan and Roman nodded and moved to grab some food. None of them ate much of anything.

After they had finished what food they could, Roman took the tray downstairs. Then, the three sides stayed up late that night. They each wanted to be awake when Virgil finally woke up. Eventually, Patton drifted off, followed by Roman, and finally Logan.

__________

The next morning it was quiet within the Mind Palace. There wasn’t any of the usual talking, laughing, or singing that usually echoed through the halls. Deceit walked through the front door and was thrown off by the atmosphere, he could only guess that Virgil hadn’t woken up yet. It seemed that no one was awake either. Walking inside, he moved towards the kitchen and found that there actually was a side awake, Logan.

Logan was leaning against the kitchen counter, near the fridge, drinking a cup of coffee. He looked really rough. He wore a navy, long sleeve shirt with grey sweatpants. His hair was a mess and it looked like he had dark circles forming under his eyes. “Long night, Logan?” Deceit asked as he made his way through the kitchen to fetch himself a cup of coffee.

Logan startled, only slightly, before muttering, “Long enough.”

Deceit settled by leaning on the counter across from Logan and took a drink of coffee (trying really hard not to moan with delight). Coffee was a luxury he didn’t get often. He didn’t keep it in the pantry at home because he didn’t want to deal with Remus when he was running off of caffeine and sugar, he was already enough to deal with. He nodded his head, “The others still asleep?”

Logan looked down into his mug. “Yeah… We were up pretty late last night. At some point both Roman and Patton had made their way up onto Virgil’s bed with him. They need their sleep.” Logan yawned, “What about Remus?”

“He’s still asleep, he’s a heavy sleeper and tends to sleep in. I figured bringing him would be an  _ excellent  _ idea and would make the situation  _ better _ .”

Logan simply nodded and, upon noticing his cup was now empty, poured himself another cup of coffee.

After that little bit of chatter the two stood in silence drinking their coffee. After a short while the two heard some footsteps heading towards the kitchen. Looking up towards the doorway, they see a very tired looking Patton. He was wearing his favorite kitty pajama pants and one of Roman’s shirts.

Patton walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. He walked through the kitchen, sparing a small wave to Deceit, and over to Logan. Logan opened his arms and Patton tucked himself into them, resting his head on Logan’s shoulder and wrapping his arms around his middle.

Logan wrapped his unoccupied arm around Patton and then took another sip of coffee. “If you were still tired, you should have stayed upstairs in bed with the others.” Logan felt Patton shake his head but otherwise say nothing.

Deceit watched the two exhausted sides before him for a few moments before pushing himself off the counter he was leaning on, “You two go rest in the living room.”

Logan looked up at Deceit and Patton peeked out from Logan’s chest, “What?”

“I’m  _ not  _ going to make you guys breakfast.  _ Don’t  _ go wait in the living room until I’m finished.”

Both looked at Deceit for only a moment before just accepting his orders and leaving the kitchen to go to the living room.

Deceit shook his head before getting started on some food for them. It was the least he could do for them, it was partially his fault that they were dealing with this situation. Deceit, after some consideration, decided that something simple would suffice. He gathered all the ingredients he needed and got started. When he was finished, he went to go get Logan and Patton.

Deceit walked into the living room and saw Patton and Logan sitting on the couch. Logan was sitting reading a book and Patton was curled up on top of him watching some random cartoon that was playing on the TV. 

“Breakfast  _ isn’t  _ ready. Do either of you  _ not  _ want to go get Roman up?”

The two slowly got up from the couch and stood up. Patton stretched his arms up over his head then gave Logan a look. He gave Logan a quick kiss on the cheek before making his way upstairs to wake the sleeping prince.

Patton walked up the stairs making sure to keep a firm hand on the railing since he was still exhausted. He reached the top of the stairs and headed down the hall. He reached Virgil’s door at the end of the hall and opened up his door. 

Upon opening the door, Patton’s eyes immediately looked towards Virgil’s bed, hoping that he would be up. He wasn’t. He was still laying in the same place he had been since last night, and Roman was still in the same place he had been when Patton left the room to go downstairs. Roman was laying next to Virgil on his bed. He was wearing a red, matching pajama set. Roman was laying, facing Virgil. Patton felt his heart sink at the sight.

Patton tiptoed his way through the room and over to where Roman was laying. Even in his sleep he looked distressed. Patton reached over and gently shook Roman’s shoulder,” Roman, kiddo, it’s time to get up.”

Roman groaned and moved one of his arms up to cover his face. Patton shook his shoulder again and watched as an eye peeked out at him. Patton gave him a look and with another groan, Roman slowly sat up and stretched his arms. Roman yawned and then reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. He looked over at Virgil and Patton watched as his face immediately saddened.

Patton leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Roman’s shoulders, he felt Roman lean back into him. Roman turned his head enough where he could give Patton a kiss. “Morning, dear.” he said, his voice still gruff from sleep.

“Morning Ro. Time for breakfast, Deceit made it for us this morning.” Roman sighed, eyes not once leaving Virgil.

“Come on, hun. You know Virgil wouldn’t want any of us to stop taking care of ourselves because of him.” Patton stood back up and took a step away, holding out his hand. “We should go downstairs and eat some food, afterwards we can come back upstairs and continue to wait for Virgil to wake up.”

Roman, after a few moments of consideration, gave in and stood up and grabbed Patton’s hand. The two walked hand-in-hand down to the dining room. When they entered they saw Deceit and Logan finishing up setting the table.

Roman let go of Patton’s hand and walked over to Logan, giving him a hug from behind. “Morning, darling.” The two had a quiet conversation before a sad smile made its way onto Roman’s face and he kissed Logan’s temple.

Deceit finished setting the table and the four of them sat down to eat. After breakfast, the three sides took turns showering and getting themselves ready for the day. After they were done, Roman and Patton made themselves comfortable for a long day of waiting in Virgil’s room. Logan rejoined Deceit who was waiting down in the living room.

By the time they were all done it was the afternoon.

__________

When Logan got back downstairs he saw Deceit had made himself comfortable in his armchair and was reading the book Logan had left on the coffee table when they had left to go eat breakfast. Deceit noticed Logan watching him and shut the book, placing it back down from where he had grabbed it. “Figured you’d be upstairs with the other two  _ not  _ waiting for Virgil to wake up.”

Logan simply huffed and sat down on the couch directly across from him. “I’ll leave Roman and Patton to it for now. I actually had a few things that I wanted to discuss with you, privately.”

“Oh?” Deceit inquired, raising an eyebrow curiously at Logan before leaning forward to rest his head on his hands. “What might you wish to discuss?”

Logan looked at Deceit, “I simply had a few questions regarding some of the details from your story yesterday.”

Deceit frowned at Logan, he had hoped that topic of conversation was over and done with, guess not. Taking it that this was supposed to be a serious conversation, Deceit took off his right glove and raised his hand to show Logan that he would tell the truth… most of the truth.

Logan gave him a look of disbelief, but continued anyway. “First off, I want you to tell me more about Corruption. Who is he and what…”

“It.”

“What?” Logan questioned, startled.

“What is  _ it _ ? Corruption isn’t a being, such as you or I, Corruption is a thing.  _ It  _ has no gender.” Deceit stated bluntly.

Logan looked confused by what he had said, granted, Corruption was a difficult topic to talk about. Deceit sighed.

“Corruption, like Remus said yesterday, is the most evil and dangerous thing to exist in both the mindsets.  _ It  _ has no true shape or form, it takes over actual beings for that bit.  _ It _ may not have any true shape but the impact that  _ it _ can make can be disastrous.”

Deceit paused for a moment to let the information he presented sink in. He watched the gears turning inside Logan’s head as Deceit was sure he was putting pieces together.

“I’m assuming that its name is a clear indication of its intentions?”

Deceit nodded in response. “Corruption aims to create the worst human beings possible. Serial Killers are excellent examples of beings whose Corruption have taken over.”

Deceit’s face darkened as he continued. “Corruption removes all good in a person, distorts reality, blurs the line between right and wrong.” Deceit shrugged his shoulders as he once again looked Logan in the eyes.

“There is a little bit of Corruption in everyone. For the most part though,  _ its  _ locked away in the dark recesses of the mind. Locked and guarded by the good sides in people, to hopefully never see the light of day.”

“And that’s what you three have decided to be your job?” Logan asked.

“Yes.”

Logan mulled over this information for a bit. Once he seemed to have settled with it, he looked back to Deceit. “Okay, next question.”

Deceit waved a hand for him to proceed.

“You mentioned, vaguely, something about you three having powers or abilities of some sort. What did you mean by that?”

“That, Logan, is something you need not concern yourself with right now.” Deceit stated.

“Pardon? I do believe I need to concern myself with this information.” Logan responded somewhat angrily.”

Deceit raised his hands up in defense. “I promise, Logan. If the time comes for that information to be relevant, I will share it. Now is not that time.”

“So, information about Corruption is relevant but information about supposed powers, isn’t?”

“Sure, let’s go with that.” Deceit simply shrugged again. Logan looked at him annoyed. “Any other questions that I might be able to answer for you, Logan?”

Logan glared at him for a second longer before answering, “I actually do have one more question.” Deceit raised an eyebrow.

“The injuries that you and Remus obtained in the manor don’t line up with any part of the story. How did you two actually get your injuries?”

Deceit sat dumbfounded. He figured the whole ‘fighting Corruption’ thing would cover any question about where their injuries came from. How was he supposed to tell Logan that Virgil had actually been the one to cause the majority of both their injuries? “Well…”

“Logan!”

Both Logan and Deceit were startled by Roman calling from the top of the stairs.

“Come up stairs! Quickly! Virgil is waking up!”

Logan didn’t need to be told twice. He didn’t even have a chance to blink before he had pushed himself off the couch and was running towards Virgil’s bedroom, he could hear Deceit close behind him.

When the two reached the room, Deceit stayed in the doorway while Logan rushed to the bedside, standing behind Roman. 

They heard a groan and watched as Virgil slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a couple more times before groaning again, hand moving towards his head. After a few moments, Virgil tried to push himself up into a sitting position, Patton ended up having to help him while Roman situated some pillows behind his back.

Virgil took a second to readjust to his new position before opening his eyes up again. Slowly, he looked around the room and at all the different faces. “It’s so good to see you awake, kiddo.” Virgil’s attention turned to Patton who smiled affectionately.

“Yeah, Stormcloud. You really had us worried. Glad to see you awake!” Roman laughed, relief echoing in his voice.

“How are you feeling, Virgil?” Logan inquired.

Virgil looked between the three sides before him.

“Um… Who are you people?”


	8. Day 1: He's Awake!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! 
> 
> Back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long, writers block and working two jobs can be a real pain! I've literally had this chapter 75% done since June and then things hit the fan in my life and it's been super hard and frustrating. I've been trying really hard (with all three of my stories in fact) to spend a little bit of time writing to hopefully get me back in the swing of things. 
> 
> I know this isn't the best chapter I've ever written, but I promise I'm really trying!
> 
> I don't know when the next chapter will be up but I'm going to at least start it soon.

“Um… Who are you people?”

Everyone stared in shock after Virgil’s question. Virgil continued to look at them in confusion as well as with a little apprehension. Barely a breath later Roman races out of the room and Patton chases after him.The three remaining sides looked at each other in concern. Logan excuses himself and leaves Virgil alone with Deceit.

With the others gone, Deceit and Virgil kind of just stared at each other for a few moments. Virgil shifted uncomfortably in his spot and winced. Deceit had no idea what to do from here. He rubbed his face in frustration with his gloved hand before resuming to try and figure out his next step. He hesitantly asked (afraid to know the answer) “Do you remember anything at all?” 

Virgil appeared to be in thought for only a moment before slightly shaking his head.  _ Well this is going to make things interesting. _ Deceit started “Well, uh, so… Your name is Virgil.” 

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “I gathered that much.”

Deceit had to stop himself from physically rolling his eyes.  _ Well at least he still has his sarcasm.  _ Shaking himself out a bit, Deceit clears his throat and continues where he left off.

“Do you know who any of us are?”

“No.” Virgil shook his head again.

“What any of us are?”

“What do you mean?” Virgil tilted his head to the side.

“What I mean by that is… Do you know that we are beings that represent parts of an actual person? That we each have a purpose to serve for this person?”

“What?” Virgil gave him a confused look. 

Deceit felt at a loss for words. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do from here. Virgil did not remember anything about them and he didn’t know how much he was supposed to reveal to him. Deceit knew he had to play this carefully.

“Well, for some examples, my name is Janus and I’m the embodiment of Thomas’, our person’s, ‘Deceit’ . Your name is Virgil and you’re the embodiment of Thomas’ ‘Anxiety’.”

Virgil’s eyebrows scrunched as he contemplated whet Deceit had told him. He looked at Deceit with concern, “My purpose… Is to give someone named Thomas… Anxiety?”

“Yes.” Deceit answered cautiously.

“Well, anyone with a purpose like ‘Deceit’ or ‘Anxiety’ sound like some  _ bad guys  _ to me.”

Deceit felt himself stiffen as those words left Virgil’s mouth. His lips press together in a hard line. “We are not  _ bad guys _ !” He hissed out. “Just because our purposes are such, doesn’t mean our intent is bad. We help to protect Thomas just as much as the others.”

Deceit’s blood was boiling. He knew it was illogical for him to be angry with Virgil because he honestly didn’t know what he was saying, but he couldn’t help it. It certainly didn’t help when Virgil simply looked at him with a look of disbelief. 

“Whatever you say…”

__________

Logan followed his partners downstairs after leaving Virgil in Deceit’s care. Was that a  _ smart _ decision on his part, he wasn’t sure, but it was the best option he had at that point. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Patton was standing at the bottom watching Roman who was angrily pacing through the living room. As he made his way to stand next to Patton, Logan heard him gently say, “Roman you need to calm down.”

“ _ Calm down _ ?” Roman stopped and spat at him, causing Patton to flinch beside Logan. Roman was angry, understandably so, but he was angry at the wrong thing.

Logan stepped forward between the two and glared at Roman, “Yes, Roman,  _ you  _ need to calm down. I understand that this situation isn’t desirable for any of us, but you do not need to lash out at Patton.”

Roman glared right back at Logan. He crossed his arms and mumbled a defeated “Sorry, Patton.”

“It’s okay.” Patton replied quietly.

Logan looked back towards Patton “No, Patton. It is not okay.” Logan turned his gaze back towards Roman. “Roman, your outburst towards Patton was unnecessary and uncalled for. I understand that the situation is upsetting but…”

“Upsetting?!” Roman nearly screeched. ”Virgil  _ lost his memories _ , Logan!” Roman snapped sharply.

Logan internally winced at Roman’s comment. “I’m aware, Roman. His head injury was pretty bad so it was a possibility.” Logan answered back.

“You  _ knew  _ something like this could happen?!” Roman stared at him incredulously.

“Well… Possible outcomes of concussions or other head injuries is memory loss. Though, the memory loss tends to be more related to the event or the people involved rather than long term. I wonder if it’s a side effect of his injury happening in the Darkscape?”

Roman’s face held a look of confusion mixed in with his anger. “What do you mean by ‘side effect’?”

Logan took some solace in the fact that he was able to distract Roman enough that his anger seemed to diminish a little. “Deceit and Remus mentioned that the Darkscape enhances negative aspects, it’s possible that might include injuries as well.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Logan turned to look at Patton who had finally spoken up.

Logan gave Patton a half smile. “I suggest we figure out the extent of his memories, and work from there.”

Patton frowned, “Are we going to tell him about us?”

“Who we are, yes. What we are, no…”

Roman’s face steeled again, “What do you mean by that?”

Logan braced himself. He was hoping to avoid this portion of the conversation for a little bit longer. “I mean... We reintroduce ourselves to him since he seems to not remember who we are. Otherwise, to avoid overwhelming him, we keep information regarding our relationship withheld until we’ve assessed the situation.”

“So we’re just supposed to  _ lie  _ to him about our relationship!” Roman shouted angrily. His arms were raised wildly in the air as he spoke.

“I’m not saying that we have to lie about anything, Roman.” Logan stated firmly. He tried to school his face but it was hard for him. Roman was very distraught with the situation, and so was he. Logan could feel the panic deep in his chest, but for the sake of the others, he needed to appear like he was calm. “We just need to be careful about how we approach this situation.”

Roman glared at him, practically challenging whatever  _ solution  _ Logan came up with. Logan glanced to the side and noticed Patton nervously shifting in his spot at the bottom of the stairs. All these high emotions probably weren’t doing him any favors right now, he looked like he would burst into tears at any given moment. Logan took a deep breath and tried to refocus his thoughts before continuing.

“Roman, I need you to remember that we aren’t just dealing with Virgil, but also the embodiment of Thomas’ anxiety.”

Roman stiffened a little as understanding started to form, but his stubbornness was still prominent in his stance. 

“We don’t know how Virgil or ‘Anxiety’ will react to this whole situation. Losing his memories could have several negative impacts that we are unaware of at this moment.”

Logan watched at Roman began to crumble. He knew this was hard to hear, but he also knew how imperative it was that Roman hear someone say it. Patton leaned against the railing, staring sadly at the ground. 

“We have watched Virgil grow and change a lot over the last few years. Who he is has changed drastically since he first appeared here in the Mindscape, probably even more so from his early years within the Darkscape. We don’t know what parts of his personality, behaviors, or attitude (among a few things) will remain the same or what/when they may revert to.”

Logan slowly walked forward and gently grabbed Roman’s face in his hands. His eyes were filled with sadness and fear and it made Logan’s heart ache. He noted Roman’s arms hanging limply at his side as he allowed Logan to (literally) hold his attention.

“I’m simply saying that we need to be careful and strategic when it comes to introducing situations in attempts to prompt memory recollection. We don’t want to over stress or overstimulate him and cause unintentional consequences.”

Roman’s face shifted once again as he pulled away from Logan. He looked to to be in thought for a moment before he turned around. Roman squared his shoulders and walked towards the living room, where he picked up his katana that was still sitting on the coffee table from the day previous. Patton took a few tentative steps towards him, “Roman?”

“I can’t be here right now. I need space to think. If you need me, I’ll be in the Daydream Territory.” Roman didn’t turn around, he simply walked to the door (letting it slam on his way out) and left the mind palace.

Logan stared at the door, he was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t even notice Patton move to stand next to him. Patton reached up and gently rubbed his arm, giving him a sad smile. “We’ll be okay. I’m going to head upstairs to take over from Deceit, if you need me.” Patton gave Logan a quick kiss and slowly made his way upstairs. 

Logan felt overwhelmed. He made his way into the living room and sat heavily in his chair. He leaned forward, pushed his glasses onto his head, and rested his head into his hands.  _ Why did emotions have to be so complicated? _

Things used to be so much easier when his emotions didn’t have a place in Logan’s everyday life. He used to focus on facts and information. He was the voice of reason, the calm in the storm. At that moment, he felt nothing but a storm raging inside him. Logan felt tears well up and fall from his eyes. 

After a few moments, Logan felt a hand on his shoulder and his eyes snapped up to see who it was. Deceit stood next to his chair, staring straight ahead almost in a manner that said  _ I’m here for you but I’ll still give you your space. _ Logan took a stuttered breath.

Even with all the fear, worry, and other  _ feelings  _ swirling inside him, he wouldn’t change it. His  _ emotions  _ and  _ feelings  _ had opened up a whole new dimension to his single focus world. He felt warm, accepted, and loved. He wasn’t going to give that up, not now. He pushed himself up, wiped the tears from his eyes, and straightened out his clothes. He turned to look at Deceit who gave him a curious look. 

“Let’s head to the Archives, we have some research to do.”

__________

The rest of the day was spent with everyone doing their own things to cope with the situation at hand. 

Roman spent the rest of the day off in the Daydream Territory blocking out his emotions with every creature he slayed. Remus eventually joined him and served as a great help in distracting himself from the inevitable return home.

Logan and Deceit spent the day in the Archives, trying to find any information that they could on memory loss. Deceit tried his best to help fill in any holes in information that he could regarding what happened in the Darkscape (still not mentioning Virgil’s loss of control). But, no matter where they looked, they still kept hitting dead ends at every turn.

Patton spent the afternoon with Virgil, making sure that his injuries were healing up and that he was comfortable. 

Later that night, Deceit and Remus left the Mind Palace and the four remaining sides had a long conversation. Virgil absorbed the information as best he could.

The others felt they were starting over from the beginning.


End file.
